684 6 - 12 December 2013 20 Pages Rs 50
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#684 6 - 12 December 2013 20 pages Rs 50 CLIMATE FOR CHANGE Climate climax BY DAVID MOLDEN PAGE 16-17 lobal warming is causing snowfields. Large lakes have Himalayan catastrophe may HIMALAYAN MYTH BUSTER Gthe Himalaya to melt at appeared where there were tune people out. an accelerated rate. Receding once glaciers and they are Kathmandu-based BY KUNDA DIXIT PAGE 10-11 glaciers and snowlines are the getting bigger, threatening ICIMOD is organising a five most dramatic visible proof downstream communities. month exhibition called of climate change and they Even so, scientists warn Climate+Change starting on 11 CLIMACTIC CHANGE are happening before our eyes against doomsday scenarios by December, the International Day BY BHRIKUTI RAI PAGE 15 within a generation. Many sensationalist media or cash- of Mountains. Himalayan glaciers have turned hungry development agencies into lakes and there are melt that exaggerate the dangers. nepalitimes.com THE HIMALAYAN THAW pools where there were once Crying wolf too often about a Special Nepali Times Multimedia Package PAGE 16-17 GEORGE MALLORY/ROYAL GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY MELTDOWN: The main Rongbuk glacier near Mount Everest in 1921 (above) and again in 2007. DAVID BREASHEARS/GLACIERWORKS 2 EDITORIAL 6 - 12 DECEMBER 2013 #684 THE TWO DECADE DETOUR uch of the talk in the post-election analysis is It worked then, and Nepal was posting six to seven focused on the political arithmetic of the next Nepali voters don’t want per cent annual economic growth in the first half of the MConstituent Assembly, or the bargaining that politics as usual, in fact they 1990s. Multinationals were setting up shop, investors has started on the formation of the new cabinet. There is were queuing up to start hydropower projects, and the nothing unusual about this, every mature parliamentary don’t want politics. They foundations were being laid for rural development democracy goes through this exercise. want the economy to grow. through grassroots democracy. Excessive politicking Elsewhere, there are rules of the game that everyone between the NC and UML, intense factionalism within follows. Here, the losing party blackmails everyone else the NC, and the Maoist conflict demolished all that. by threatening to boycott the legislature if it isn’t given After this ruinous 20-year detour, the NC is now more say in government decision-making. Worse, a ideally placed to go back to where it had started with a faction of the same party that actively tried to sabotage blueprint for economic growth. It needs to replicate some the polls with terrorism wants nominated seats offered of the forward-looking policies from that era and learn to on a platter. avoid the political pitfalls of the past. ‘Status quo’ is not And as an added distraction, the power-sharing necessarily a bad word as long as lessons are learnt to fix negotiation has dragged in the office of the president. In the kinks on what was working reasonably well. order to improve their bargaining positions, the UCPN Let’s face it, there is no other way forward but to (M) and RPP-N are in unlikely agreement with the UML start fixing the economy. Pretty soon, as urban youth to change the president. This has pitted them against the discontentment boils over again, it won’t matter who Nepali Congress which is against such a move now. wins elections and gets to power any more. All the parties Pushing the presidentship into this debate has an must look at employment generation and infrastructure unfortunately familiar ring to it: the tendency of our as a common minimum platform, and not let politics get politicians to get distracted with side issues so they don’t in the way. have to take the bull by the horns. While they go through We know what the problems are with the economy, the tortuous negotiations for the formation of the new and by and large we know what needs to be done. Jobs legislative and executive, what gets left by the wayside are needed at home to stop the haemorrhage of young once more is the urgent need to spur economic growth Nepalis to India, the Gulf, and Southeast Asia. The and local development. energy crisis (both the shortage of electricity and the Grassroots development is not possible without local growth in petroleum import) can be addressed with a elections and we will deal with that in another editorial single silver bullet: hydropower generation including next week. But it is the economy on which the new reservoir projects to meet domestic demand and export to government has to get moving right away. That is also offset the yawning trade deficit with India. An aggressive the message from the electorate: we don’t really care that push on infrastructure will create employment, and once much about slogans for federalism or secularism, we highways, airports, and hydropower projects are built want healthcare, education, roads, and jobs. they will spur manufacturing which in turn will generate Nepali voters don’t want politics as usual, in fact they more jobs. don’t want politics, period. They want attention given Leaders in the NC, more than any other party, to the economy. In this, the NC is ideally placed to go understand this. Now, if they can only get over their back to what it was doing 20 years ago with economic internal power struggle and weed out the corrupt in their deregulation to attract investors, free up the market, top rank, we can be on our way from where we left off dismantle the cartels, and create employment. two decades ago. JON APPEL ON THE WEB www.nepalitimes.com BACK TO THE CENTRE politics and the customary bickering. any hopes of having a democratic left not to mention it’s a complete waste #683). Tibetan parents feel a sense This election has shown the need for For the sake of the country I pray that in Nepal. The country is once again in of money if someone wins from both of pride when they send their kids to electoral reform, as cited in this as our newly elected leaders don’t spend the hands of NEOs: neo-liberals, neo- places and re-elections are needed. English-medium schools, something well as previous editorials in Nepali the next months fi ghting over the democrats, neo-lefts, neo-rights, and Prem Rai their parents were not able to do and Times (‘Back to the centre’, Editorial, post of prime minister and president. neo-elites. the reason why there was a need for #683). Although the poll results may Otherwise, the Rs 50 billion that we Nirmal PEACE OF MIND Tibetan schools in the fi rst place. Also have been unpleasant for some of spent on polls will have gone to utter I have great respect for Matrika second and third generation Tibetans the parties, it’s now all about the waste. Let Ram Baran Yadav remain There is no need for extensive Devkota (‘Peace of mind’, Ayesha feel a closer affi nity towards their future. It would be foolish, however, in Shital Niwas, let Sushil Koirala post-election analysis. The Maoists Shakya, #683). His relentless efforts birthplace than a land they have never for the NC and UML to get carried fi nally become the prime minister. won in 2008 through intimidation and at raising awareness about mental set foot in. So many are not interested away. A triumphalist response would First give Nepalis a constitution by violence. When such prospects were health in Nepal and helping patients in learning their ‘mother tongue’. alienate the Maoists further and 2015, then the politicians can fi ght reduced during the second elections, live better lives make him one of Sonam Lama exacerbate the current polarisation. over positions and money as much as people voted the way they really the most deserving recipients of the Nepal managed to hold a magnifi cent they want. wanted and the Maoists lost. ‘Breaking the Chains of Stigma’ award. Life has become diffi cult for election and proved doubters wrong. Karma Latate I hope this recognition brings greater Tibetan refugees in Kathmandu. There Let’s celebrate while the euphoria understanding and support for mentally is enormous pressure to curb the lasts and before the disappointments POST MORTEM GOING LOCAL disabled members of our society. freedom of movement of Tibetans. of the coming months set in. Although I vehemently oppose the While Nepalis have chosen locals Mahesh They have no choice but to migrate Jen ethno-federalism agenda due to my over celebrity or ‘tourist’ candidates to USA and Canada and as a result, personal ideology, I disagree with this time, it will be really interesting I can only imagine what it must feel Tibetan schools in Kathmandu are I agree that the election results Muma Ram Khanal’s analysis of the to see how well the winners serve like living with mental illness in Nepal. running out of students. are a clear indication of people’s recently held elections (‘Post mortem their constituencies in the next fi ve Even in the US, where we have made Pasang Thondup disillusionment with the Maoist of a defeat’, #683). It makes no sense years (‘Going local’, Dambar Krishna huge strides in mental health science, agenda. However, to take this to to say that the Maoists were defeated Shrestha, #683). There have been there is still such a stigma that few mean a rejection of inclusiveness in the polls for having championed far too many times when the leaders families bring their children or loved and identity is wrong. Most Nepalis ethnic federalism, presidential system we voted for abandoned us and ones for examination or counseling.